Supervalu earns several honors in recognition of its green programs

By Michael Johnsen

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. — Supervalu recently received multiple national honors for its sustainability efforts, the retailer announced Tuesday. First, the company is featured in the Carbon Disclosure Project’s 2012 “Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index,” which honors companies for both environmental performance and transparency in this area. Supervalu received the highest score among national grocery retailers in this report.

This honor comes on the heels of Supervalu also receiving two major honors as part of the Environmental Protection Agency’s 2012 GreenChill Environmental Achievement Awards, the grocer stated.

“Supervalu has built a much-deserved reputation as a leader in the area of environmental sustainability, and that effort is very important to our business moving forward,” stated Wayne Sales, president, CEO and chairman of Supervalu. “Reducing our carbon footprint and limiting our waste is not only good for the environment; it’s [also] good for the bottom line.”

Through efforts like these, Supervalu reduced total emissions by 3% in the past year, with total waste reduction of more than 11% across its network of 2,400 retail stores nationwide.

From Greenchill, Supervalu won the Distinguished Partner Award, given to the organization that helps best advance the overall mission of the GreenChill program, becoming the only company to win this award twice. Additionally, the company’s Albertsons Carpinteria store earned the Best Certified Store Award — the top honor for an individual store — for being the first in the nation to use only all-natural emission refrigerants. Supervalu won the same award in 2010 for its Chestnut Hill Star Market store. No other company has won either of these awards more than once, Supervalu noted.